Scrapped turbine for Olympic park cost almost £1m

The Olympic Delivery Authority spent almost £1m working up plans for a wind turbine on the Olympic park only for it to be scrapped last month, the organisation has admitted.

In accounts published last week, the ODA said the proposal for a 130m-high turbine had incurred “abortive” costs of £842,000 for its procurement, design and related consultancy.

An ODA spokesperson said the cost also included early work to the Eton Manor site and legal fees. He said: “We wouldn’t have spent that amount if we didn’t think it was reasonable.”

David Higgins, the ODA’s chief executive, said in June that it had been forced to withdraw plans for the turbine after the project timetable and health and safety legislation meant the only contractor for the project pulled out.

The ODA accounts also revealed it made a £26.2m provision to convert venues to legacy mode after the Games, twice the provision it made last year. It paid programme manager CLM, a consortium of Mace, CH2M Hill and Laing O’Rourke, £141m, down from £152m last year.

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